LAUSR

Electron microscopy at low primary electron energies E0 ≤ 30 keV has experienced increasing interest in the past years. At such low electron energies, the signal-to-noise ratio for material contrast is enhanced and knock-on-damage is reduced compared to higher electron energies. However, at lower energies, the mean free path length decreases. Thus, more scattering events take place and the electron beam broadens by multiple scattering in the material, even for small sample thicknesses. This leads to a progressive worsening of the lateral resolution with increasing penetration depth.